Stalk Me!

About Me

I am merely a girl in a world full of fabulously rich words, begging to be used, manipulated, situated comfortably in sentences as lengthy and enlightening as possible. I am here to grant their loftiest wishes.

In addition to being a girl, I am seventeen years old, have just graduated from high school after [miraculously] managing to stuff four years of school into three, and am working as a bookseller at Barnes and Noble* for the summer. I’m heading off to Southern Virginia University in the fall to major in English and History, happily saddled with dreams of becoming an editor for a publishing house in London. Why London? Because I’m an Anglophile in love with everything British from Doctor Who to Devonshire Cream. Also, Hogwarts is in England, which I consider enough of a reason.

I started blogging in eighth grade and have been reviewing books from the start. Sadly, AP classes and theatre and studying studying studying have meant little time for blogging in the past two years, but I hope to revive this little blog of mine and, hopefully, start writing books of my own again. No matter how busy I am, I am haunted by a desire to read and write. I know this is what I love and that, in the end, the world of words is the one I belong in.

If you’d like to contact me, click the tab to the left. If you’re a publisher or author who would like something reviewed, please read my Review Policy here before using the contact page.

*My opinions on this blog are my own and should not be attributed in any way to my employer.

I’m sorry I have 250+ unread emails, one of which might be your blog post.

I’m sorry I haven’t made much progress on my book in weeks.

I’m sorry I’ve disappeared.

–

I’m trying to figure out how to fix all this. I want to spend just as much time with you as I used to, but that seems more and more difficult every day. I want to give advice and rant and just talk with you. I’m working on it. My life is a WIP.

I’ve been trying to come up with new ideas and new ways of approaching various aspects of my life. I’m starting track at the end of February (I’m as shocked as you are). I’ll have practice 5 days a week from 3:25 to 5:45. Instead of watching television with my family at night, I’m going to start writing again. I’m hoping to make a lot of progress during the track season (February 28th through May 5th).

I’ll also set aside a day of the week to stock up on blog posts instead of writing. I know this is a book blog, but I’d also like to touch a bit more on my life in general. I’m not turning this into a journal (you wouldn’t want to read it. I wouldn’t want to write it.), but I’d like to take Saturdays to post recipes. I love baking. And what’s better than baked goods and books on a Saturday evening?

Anyway, I wanted to check in and let you know that I am, indeed, alive.

Please don’t tease me for using Castle examples again. You’re wasting your time. You should be recording re-runs, becoming obsessed, renting season one, watching season two online, and waiting eagerly for season three (because that’s really making good use of your time).

I’m back! Wondering where I was? I had to link that “Castle” up there, wound up on their site, and became engrossed in the Ask Castle videos (there’s some good writing advice in there!). Back to the post…

People make me happier in life than almost anything else. They make living a joy, because loving them makes the entire world seem better. This applies mostly to real people, but characters have nearly the same affect on me. My 2D and paper & ink families add laughter, smiles, and occasionally tears to my life, making it glisten brighter. People, fictional or not, are an integral part of the human experience. We have the ability to love so strongly. It’s an astounding gift, because, when you get right down to it, love is what makes life worth living.

I’m using Castle and Alexis as examples because I frequently tell my dad that they were misplaced. In my ideal reality, they would have been my uncle and cousin. Watching them makes me ache for their friendship. I can’t stop thinking of all the way we’re similar (and, best of all, Castle’s a writer!). They would both fit so well in my family that I feel like they’re missing. Their father-daughter relationship reminds me of the one I have with my dad; the ways I relate to them are never-ending.

I’m a crier. Really. I cry from happiness, excitement, frustration, sadness, etcetera. Oftentimes, I cry when I read or watch a TV show. I become so invested in the characters, so in love with them (not in the romantic way), that watching them go through hard times or happy ones resonates incredibly with me.

As readers, we hone our skills as people-lovers. Have you ever realized that the more a character has at risk, or the more likable they are, the faster we read? The more torn we feel when we’re done? Happy that we experienced what we did while reading but simultaneously wishing we hadn’t read it at all because we miss it so much? Even when the plot isn’t quite thrilling, the characters can hold a story on their own. Reading helps us to appreciate the little things, hold back presumptions and wait to see what people are really like. From reading, we learn that people can change, we witness it happen. We give more people the benefit of the doubt. If we’re not doing these things, we need to. We don’t have an excuse because every book we read teaches us that value of people. Every person is valuable to the story, every person is valuable in our lives, whether to teach us a lesson, to help us strengthen our patience, or to give us more reason to love.

As writers, we have the opportunity to create friends. To add more people to the world. We’re giving readers the opportunity to love more. We’re teaching ourselves about the ins and outs of human nature and giving ourselves the opportunity to appreciate what people are, to appreciate their weaknesses, because we learn that even their weaknesses contribute to their character. Most importantly, we are creating people that will resonate with a reader, give them goosebumps, make them cry, make them laugh, make them love life a little bit more.

These 2D and paper & ink families are crucial. Imagine all the people out there. Tucked within book covers or scripts. People who might just be our meant-to-be cousins. Or our role models. Or mentors, crushes, our bosom friends.

Open a book, read. Turn on the television, watch. Open a Word document, write.

Create people. Meet people. Love them or hate them, but let them contribute something to your life.